Modern commercial aircraft are fabricated using substantial amounts of composite materials, which require manufacturing apparatus and techniques different from those used with metal component production. Automated fiber placement (AFP) machines were developed for the fabrication of large aircraft, with a typical AFP machine using a mandrel to place composite materials, usually as bundled composite fiber yarns, or tows, on the airframe. AFP mandrels can be massive, often weighing from 20 tons to over 100 tons, and are most efficient when used in continuous rotation around the fuselage barrel. However, it often is necessary to place one or more additional layers of composite materials on limited portions of the fuselage to reinforce certain locations, such as cut-outs and openings for ports, hatches, doors, etc. Moreover, these additional layers may need to be placed with an orientation or direction angle different from the primary orientation of continuous fiber placement. To place these additional layers, a typical AFP mandrel is stopped, repositioned, and restarted, leading to inefficiencies that may be unacceptable in the commercial production of large transport-class aircraft.
As a result, there is a need for apparatus and methods by which one or more additional layers of composite materials may be placed efficiently on limited portions of a wing and/or airframe without limitation and without stopping, repositioning, or restarting a typical AFP mandrel.